The Staples Motley Cardinal boys won their first two games in sub section playoff action, but then lost to No. 1 seed Morris in the title game Tuesday night. The Morris Tigers won 79-64. (Full final game story in next week's Staples World edition.)

THIS WEEK 3-17 SS FINALS AT MORRIS' 3-20 SECTION FINAL @ST. CLOUD STATE Staples as the No. 3 seed defeated Osakis 90-50 in the first round and upset No. 2 Breckenridge 61-55 in a thrilling game at UMM Morris Saturday, Mar. 14.

The winner of the the West Sub Section 6AA finals will face the East Sub Section champs Friday night at St. Cloud for the Section 6AA title and a berth in the state Class AA boys tournament. The state tournament is next Wednesday thru Saturday at Target Center and Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

Staples Motley used solid defense throughout their semi-final game to deny the Cowboys from Breckenridge a shot at the state tournament again this year. "We were down by four with about two minutes left and I think we saw the team's best performance of the year," Coach Lynn Peterson said of the Breck game.

After the game was tied at 52 all, the Cardinals played a patient game on offense and a close but careful man to man defense to allow Breck just three points in the last 1-1/2 minutes - while scoring nine themselves.

Staples World photo by Tom Crawford First round action Cardinal junior Derek Wolhowe and Osakis defender Jake Friedrichs played a game of 'who's going up first' as Wolhowe attempted a shot from the paint. This was in the Cardinals' 90-50 win over the Silverstreaks Thursday, March 12. No. 23 Adam Sadlemyer led the Osakis players with 27 points. It was a great team effort, but Jordan Riewer, who had been held to just nine points in the first half, took command of the game. He scored nine points in the last three minutes, plus at least one steal and one assist to pound the nails in the Cowboys' coffin.

He started with a three point shot that narrowed the Cowboy lead to 51-50. Less than 30 seconds later Jordan added a back door layup to put his team ahead 52-51. Breck's Bryan Jacklitch tied the game, hitting one of his two free throw chances with over two minutes remaining and then hitting another at the charity stripe with 1:45 to go.

Staples World photo by Jody Hagenson In the way Staples Motley junior Derek Wolhowe didn't need the extra help being offered by a Breckenridge defender in the Saturday night semi-final game with Breck. That was Breck's last lead, as Jordan Peterson took a feed from Riewer to nail a decisive 'three, giving the Cards a 55-53 lead. Riewer followed that seconds later with a steal of a Breck pass.

That forced Breck to try to stop SM by fouling. Seconds later Riewer and Derek Wolhowe were shooting six free throws, making them all, in the final 60 seconds.

"Jordan (Riewer) had a good game, he played under control in the final minutes," coach Peterson said. He felt it was not the repeat of their high scoring double overtime loss to the

cowboys earlier this season

because of experience. " "We've seen each other play

a few times by now. Each team tries to attack the other team's weakness, or perceived weakness. We've learned from the first time we played," he said.

Riewer finished with 21 points and eight assists. Mike Lindaman, who made three three point shots, contributed 13 points and six rebounds, while Derek Wolhowe added 10 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Cardinals, who improved to 20-9 with the win. Jordan Peterson added nine points on three long shots.

The Cardinals advance to the subsection final to play Morris, which defeated Benson 78-62.

Two nights earlier, the Cardinals ran away from the Osakis Silverstreaks by a 90-50 score, with Riewer's 26 points leading the way. Thirteen players got into the game, with 12 of them scoring. The Cards hit 14 of 28 three-point attempts for an amazing 50 percent success rate. Jordan Peterson hit two three's, Riewer had six and six others added one each.

The win over Breck gave the Cards a 20-8 record this year and more importantly, kept their hopes for a state appearance alive.

Peterson said the Cards need to set the tempo for the Morris game. "We need to set the flow of the game, to keep the ball moving around the perimeter. They tend to hang onto the ball, to try to go inside as often as possible."

"We need to make their outside people as uncomfortable as possible," he said. That indicates he will try a close man to man defense. When you do that, he observed, you often get yourself in foul trouble.

The Tuesday night winner at Morris will advance to an 8 p.m. game Friday night at Halenbeck Hall in St. Cloud. The opponent will also be decided Tuesday night, either Belgrade- Brooten-Elrosa (BBE) or New London-Spicer ( in an East sub section game played at St John's University).

Peterson refused to

say the Breck game was

the championship game. "They are all championship

games, when you get to this point in the year. The Osakis game was a championship game, if you lost, you go home."

Game Results

March 12
Osakis	29 21 - 50
Staples Motley	50 40 - 90

Osakis (50): Brad Parson 2, Devin Waldvogel 2, Adam Sadlemyer 27, Matt Laven 4, Jake Friedrichs 3, Tony Roggenbuck 6, Andrew Nack 6. FG: 17-50 (34 percent), FT 11-14 (79 percent), Three-point baskets: 5 (Sadlemyer 3, Roggenbuck 2).

Staples Motley (90): Adam Cox 2, Jacob Zetah 7, Trevor Wentworth 5, Mike Lindaman 5, Gunner Johnson 5, Jason Johnson 4, Jordan Peterson 14, Derek Wolhowe 8, Isaac Fuhrman 3, Jordan Riewer 26, Brandon Larson 2, Jon Bristow 9. FG 35-70 (50 percent), FT 6-7 (90 percent), 3-point baskets: 14 (Riewer 6, Peterson 2, Zetah, Wentworth, Lindaman, G. Johnson, Fuhrman, Bristow).

March 14
Breckenridge	28	27	-	55
Staples Motley	29	32	-	61
Breckenridge	(55):	Jordan

Blaufuss 8, Dylan Summerville 2, Bryan Jacklitch 14, Joe Terfehr 23, Tim Christopher 8. FG 21-54 (39 percent), FT 7-12 (58 percent), 3-point baskets: 6 (Terfehr 3, Jacklitch 2, Blaufuss).

Staples Motley (61): Mike Lindaman 13, Jason Johnson 6, Jordan Peterson 9, Derek Wolhowe 10, Jordan Riewer 21, Jon Bristow 2. FG 21-53 (40 percent), FT 11-13 (85 percent), 3-point baskets: 8 (Lindaman 3, Peterson 3, Wolhowe, Riewer).